Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1887-05-04
VISIT TO A SHELTER.
How Silver Is Produced In the
Colorado Smelling Works.
The Methods Employed In Converting the
Crude Ore Into Merchantable silver
A Description which L. Recon-
meaded by Its Plain Language.
IChicnnn Snn1

tChica9o SUM-
The average tourist in visiting Colorado
may expect to find in his rambles about
Manitou, in his excursions in the neigh
borhood of Denver, or his rides about
Colorado Springs, some token of the
precious metals in the thousand forms Of
rocks which he sees cropping out here,
there and every whe 20 in the mountains
But he will be disappointed. To really
get at the true inwardness of gold and
silver, where they are, and how they are
brought to light after they are found, one
must so to one of the great smelling
houses in Denver, where are the largest,
most complete and most profitable estab-
lishments Of the kind in the world.
The Argo smelter, a mile or more from
Denver, in Colorado. consists of many
stone buildings inclosed in a prison like
wall, as the precious ore is too valuable
TO be exposed to the stray hands of plum
derers
First, supposing you a visitor, you must
procure pass from the office. Armed
with this, you are allowed to enter. You
hrst discover a pile of rocks, lately un-
laden from the cars of the marrow -gauge)
Denver & Rio Grande railway. These cars
have been laden from far-away mountain
mines, at Leadville, perhaps, or from New
experienced miner has found, in his opin-
ion, paying ore. The lighter and more
easily managed cars of the narrow gauge
are able to reach heights and ascend
sleeper grades than ordinary freight cars.
These rocks give no indication of gold or
silver, or even copper; they seem to be
precisely like any broken stones from any
hillside in Wisconsin. But here they are
thrown into great crushing mills, and
with much noise chewed up into pieces
the size of buck-shot. And, by the way,
ninety car loads of rocks are used in this
way every day. This is then piled up in
cone-lke heaps, each having shingle
marked with number thereon. These
piles seem TO you simply piles of dirt,
gray, drab, coffee color, or like ashes in
appearance. 1t IS hard to realize that
there is a million in value before your
eyes. Here the metallurgist takes a small
portion from each pile in order to make an
assay to determine the value of the ore
To take the average he mixes the ores in
small cups made of bone-dust with othor
chemicals and bakes the mixture in ovens
Ii the miner who owns the ore wishes TO
consult another assayer he is at liberty to
do So When the average "alue of his car
load of ore is learned the miner goes to
the office and is paid for his ore. Here his
interest in the matter ceases.
The crushed ore is then mixed by order
Of the metallurgist and burned in order to
get rid Of the sulphur. 1t is then in ap-
pearance like a coarse black powder It
is then burned a second time and again
crushed still finer This is then put in
large reverberatory furnaces, beginning
at one end, where there is q moder ate
heat, and moved on every four hours by
means Of long pokers to the next oven,
until it reaches the last furnace, which
you will judge to be seven times heated,
rs your eyes and throat will warn you.
This is, indeed, a melting process, the Stag
running off as in blast furnace, and the
matte" as it is termed, cooled in cakes
something like pig-iron, black in color,
but not nearly as heavy.
This 'matte" is then crushed and gain
roasted, then ground again into a fine
black powder.
This powder is taken up by elevators
and put into bath of hot water Coming
from the sulphurous and heated air Of the
ovens, this room seems delightfully."- clean
and cool. The silver after its bath runs
off into little troughs lined with zinc. 1t
aow looks like oxidized silver, but Is really
pure, and is at this stage of the con-
iistency OF mush. The water has a green
lsh hue, owing to the presence of copper
held in solution At the end Of its journey
IN the little troughs every particle Of sill.
YER is saved. The attendant tests the fact
oy dipping up some of the water in a glass
bottle and dropping a minute portion OF
some chemical therein. If the water con.
tains silver it is instantly precipitated.
This silver mush is then taken 10
the drying-room, where it is thor
oughly dried upon large iron plate
over furnace. 1t is now literally silver
powder. This powder is now meltei in
crucibles, and then, while in a LIQUID
form, poured into moulds in the form of a
large brick.
The work OF tracing the silver from the
rock TO the pure article for one day is
over. There II is-a wall of silver bricks
worth $1,000 The old man who did it I
the last stage graciously condescends to
weigh out some beautiful specimens of
crystalized silver, for which he receives
an equivalent in United States coin. You
would have, no doubt, been pleased to
carry away specimens Of the work in ali
its stages, but this is not allowed, no mat
ter how high your station. But how
about the goldi 1t, with copper (for both
OF which, besides the silver, are contained
in the same ore), is extracted by a secret
process by the metallurgist, who receives
$4,000 a year for his invention from the
proprietor. The stockholders in the COM
pany are not allowed in the goldroom, so
rigidly is this secret kept. This establish
ment annually gives TO the world s3OOoa.-
200 in gold, silve. and copper.
This is one process. There are, of
course, many others. At Pueblo, Col,
observed large part of what is called
silver bullion upon the platform of a
smeltlng-house there. This is a mixture
OF silver and led. 1t is sent TO Denver to
be refined. At Golden, in the mountains,
young men anxious 70 learn can be edu.
Gated in school of mining and engineer.
ing, where they can enjoy the practical ap-
plication Of their studies very near to Ma
lures heart.